Make the transition years count for your student with a disability
As a financial and benefits planner for people with disabilities and their families, I am excited when clients first come to work with...
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How you save for retirement now affects your future financial and tax health
My late grandmother once said: “They didn’t have cholesterol when I was a girl!” in response to some family member trying to discourage...
It takes a team to make your financial plan successful
Before I worked as a financial planner, I was the executive director of L’Arche Chicago, the small local chapter of an international...
It is easiest to apply for Social Security and Medicaid immediately at age 18
Every time I use a certain gas station near my children’s school, I am prompted to scan my rewards card. Since I don’t have one, I am...
Your pension might reduce the Social Security benefits that your adult child receives
My own children as well as some of the students that I teach are getting excited for Halloween. Besides free candy, the attraction of...
A good DSP (Direct Support Professional) is a valuable find
September 12-18, 2021 is Direct Support Professionals’ (DSPs’) week. If you are a person with a disability, who needs support or are the...
The challenge of counting earned, unearned and in-kind income for Social Security purposes
Although I probably found him a bit frightening as a toddler, one of my favorite Sesame Street characters, in reminiscence, is Count von...
Medicaid Waivers: A (Partial) Backstory
I am a big fan of Star Trek and have watched every series from the reruns of the original series that fueled my childhood imagination to...
Some long and winding roads...to Medicaid eligibility
The “Rerouting” function on my GPS is alternatively really helpful and impossible. Sometimes, when I miss a turn or misinterpret a step,...
Several roads lead to Medicaid eligibility
When they bike, my kids conflate “shortcut” with “alternate route”. I have given up explaining that if you start at the same place, end...
Entrepreneurship can be a necessity for people with disabilities
This article just showed up in my Facebook feed. While I do not know this family’s backstory, I strongly suspect that the father’s...
For workers with disabilities, saving for retirement can feel like trying to solve a Rubik's cube...
My younger son likes to play with his Rubik’s Cube. Yes, I mean that same multi-colored cubic puzzle that debuted in the seventies. So...
How does a la carte Traditional Medicare compare to Medicare Advantage, the combo meal?
The question “Do you want fries with that?” has become a shorthand phrase, synonymous with the fast-food industry. So much so that it is...
It's not about special needs, but rather specialized knowledge
One of our four chickens is a rescue hen named Henrietta. She lived the first year or so of her life on an egg farm. It is not uncommon...
What, exactly, is the work I do with clients?
“Could you clarify what it is, exactly, that you do?” Several prospective clients have asked me that recently. It is a welcome question,...
PASS can help people with disabilities invest in themselves
Warren Buffet, the professional and very successful investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has eight pieces of advice for novice...
Maximizing the Non-financial Benefits of Work
O. Henry’s short story, The Gift of the Magi, tells of a young couple, who have very little money but want to buy each other a worthy...
How Transitioning from Student to Worker Affects Your SSI
This time of year, I work with a lot of clients on their taxes. The economic results of both the pandemic and the relief packages meant...
Impairment Related Work Expenses Can Reduce Countable Income for Social Security eligibility
When I lived in Shanghai back in the 1990s, I, like many other expatriates, received a housing allowance as well as a slightly higher...
Employer Subsidy Helps to Maintain SSI/SSDI Eligibility
As Americans, we are obsessed with dieting and counting food related indicators like calories, sugars, carbs, trans-fats or, for those...